Have been talking to various folks at various mainstream media outlets all day, hoping to help improve their coverage beyond the usual "glitches, hiccups, snags and snafus" reporting, so they might better understand that those are not "glitches", but failures.

My report on Los Angeles County issues for now, promised earlier, will therefore be somewhat truncated for the moment. I'll try to offer more details late night and/or tomorrow when, as the Century Foundation's Election Integrity expert Tova Andrea Wang smartly points out in her article titled "Super Tuesday. And Wednesday, and Thursday": "[M]any of the biggest problems will not be revealed until well after the polls close tonight."

For now, allow me to point out that, or caution, that serious legal issues could come in to play if results of the Democratic primary in the state are close in any way...

For a start, I'll point you to the Los Angeles Times surprisingly good coverage of election integrity issues this afternoon (try to overlook the fact that "Glitches" is the first word in the headline, of course.) The story covers polls where voters couldn't vote, and voters who had to pay for parking before even getting a shot at it.

LA County is the largest county in the nation. It's larger than some two-thirds of the states in the country. There are more than enough votes in this county alone to flip any particular state election.

The most notable problems I'm hearing from folks on the ground here today concern confusion and problems for independent voters --- officially known as "Decline to State" or DTS voters --- who tried to vote in the Democratic Primary, which is open.

There has been a great deal of confusion about what independent, DTS, voters need to do in order to vote --- and have their vote correctly counted --- in the Democratic Primary. There is also a great deal of frustration and confusion from thousands of voters who'd thought they'd registered as independent, only to find they have been assigned as members of the "American Independent" party instead of being DTS. As AI members, they are not allowed to vote in the Dem Primary.

The issue has been made far more complicated by the Registrar's office than it should be. If the results in California for the Dem Primary are in any way close, I predict there could be a whole lot of legal issues here. Hope I'm wrong.

The Democratic and American Independent party ballots given to independent voters who request them include an extra bubble specifying that the ballot is for that party's primary. The bubble appears before the list of presidential candidates.

If voters fail to mark that spot, the county's scanning machines will not read the selection for president.

Lawyers for the Los Angeles-based Courage Campaign said that violates California election law. The group sent a letter to Los Angeles County officials threatening legal action if the issue isn't addressed before Tuesday's election.

"We did talk to the county, and they admit it's a problem," Courage Campaign chairman Rick Jacobs said. "They just don't seem to know what to do about it."

I've been trying to sort this matter out for the last hour or two with various folks, and it's all clear as mud for the moment. Yet, at the end of the article mentioned above, the new acting LA County registrar goes on to say, incredibly...

"It would almost be counterintuitive for someone to miss," said Dean Logan, the acting county registrar. "We have put this information in voter education materials, and we've provided real clear instructions."

But more on that later as I try to help unpack this particularly confusing issue in a way that will make sense. It's not easy right now. So, more later as needed.

With that, allow me to quickly note that I've lived in the same location in LA County for more than 10 years, but have been forced to vote at at least three different locations over the last four elections under the misdirection of the recently-resigned LA County Registrar of Voters and Diebold cover girl, Conny "Cut and Run" McCormack.

When I voted today in Los Angeles, CA, the optical scanning machine was broken. So, the paper punchcards were put into a green plastic box under a table, which was secured by a paper clip. The poll worker sat next to the box which was on the floor, hidden from sight. I took pictures of it. I have heard from the Voter Fraud division, they have had so many complaints throughout the day that they will be working all night from throughout the state.

Not to worry, Brad. Looks like California isn't going to be close enough to mount any long, drawn out, expensive, possibly eye-opening litigation--55-41 right now.

Very upsetting day. Every state looks like New Hampshire to me, now. Feels like we're always 10 steps behind their antics, the HILLARY/ McCAIN fix is in, VOTER ID cards doing the dirty work in GA, independent voters shafted in CA, Karl Rove just announced as pundit for FOX...

In N.H., we learned something NEW and nauseating that we didn't know according to a very reliable source--THE AP PAYS TOWN CLERKS TO REPORT ELECTION TOTALS?!! ...Brad, could this be true? How much? And to which clerks?...this smacked me upside the gut with a sickly, familiar 'a-ha'...

That would explain a LOT, wouldn't it?

A buddy of mine just returned from RUSSIA/ brought me some real, Russian Vodka...packs a punch. It arrived just in time for Super Tuesday.

It just amazes me how I can come home after working as a precinct officer all day long in a northern California county, and just one hour after the polls close, and before any ballots have even arrived at the area drop-off points for counting, and California is already being called for Clinton. What gives?!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama surged to a big lead over Hillary Clinton in California hours before "Super Tuesday" voting began in 24 states, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

In the Republican race, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney held a 7-point advantage on Arizona Sen. John McCain in California, while McCain added to commanding double-digit leads in New York and New Jersey.

On a sprawling day of coast-to-coast voting, the biggest ever in a U.S. primary race, the U.S. presidential contenders in both parties were fighting to win a huge cache of delegates to this summer's nominating conventions.

In California, which alone provides more than one-fifth of the Democratic delegates needed for the nomination, Obama led Clinton by 49 percent to 36 percent, the poll found. The margin of error was 3.3 percentage points."

The time of the article posting is 10 minutes before the polls closed and even when the margin of error is added to Clinton and subtracted from Obama(yes,I know) that's a 7 % difference. Again a 'polling problem'? OR?

Oh, and just for the record, once again, at both of the precincts that are at the polling place I work at, not a single voter, not even one, voted on either of the two (one for each precinct, per federal elections law requirements) disabled access electronic voting machines available, despite roughly 600 voters casting their votes at this polling place today. And not a single voter even inquired into using them, despite their high visibility. And despite the fact that about half a dozen visibly disabled voters came in and voted today.

Furthermore ... both machines were problematic, requiring approximately an additional 15 minutes per machine spent by the precinct officers getting them set up according to specifications, over and beyond the extra time spent just setting them up sans problems, as well as about one hour per machine spent by the regional elections officer troubleshooting for them. What a complete waste of taxpayer money and local elections energy.

LINDA!~YES!!! I was just sitting here tearing my hair out wondering the SAME THING! HOW CAN THEY CALL IT in CA with only 14% of precinct reporting?! So glad you posted that/ thought I was going bonky. Jjjjjeeeeeezus.

I live in North Sacramento. When I voted The scantron had "malfunctioned" so all ballots were collected by the voters slipping their ballots into a slot in the back of the box. A teenage kid was monitoring the box showing where to place it in the slot. One bin was stacked on top of the other and he could see who I voted for (the homeowner was also lurking nearby... could see who I voted for)The kid had his hand on the box and could have had a button to move a flap or wire that would divert a sheet of paper from sliding straight down the back of the box into an opening down to the bottom bin. They could turn in only cases that carried a certain candidates name. A very simple cheat. I stood there for a while watching them watch the ballots go into the slot. I wanted to go back and inspect those boxes.

I am disappointed also at what seems like a Diebold type switch in the results for Proposition 91 that the Election Guide said:
"Arguments;
Pro: Prop 91 is NO LONGER NEEDED. Please VOTE NO. Voters passed prop 1A in 2006 accomplishing what prop 91 set out to do"
Prop 91 PASSED today. So, I wonder if ALL votes werent switched...

I have little faith in the election system.
I love Debra Bowen and I wish I could just hand her my ballot!
Our corrupted system still has operatives from the dark side. Our SoS inherited one lousey ordeal... it wont be undone overnight.

When I examined my mail-in ballot carefully, I noticed that it had been scored by some sort of blade in a letter folding machine, to make the thick ballot fold better. Of course this is a terrible idea for a ballot. Part of the score actually went through the big thick ballot. If it was to be fed into an optical scanner, who knows if it would rip or not. I applied just a little pressure to the fold, and it started splitting. The thin paper flyer that was in the envelope with the ballot was actually much stronger, because it had not been compromised by a cut across its' face. Of course this defeats the whole purpose of a big thick ballot. I'm not suggesting anything nefarious, but I think it would be bad to have the same folding machine used in the actual election. BTW it was a democratic ballot, although I am registered non-affiliated. I ended up not voting, because I wanted to keep the ballot. I live in San Diego, so I suppose I can thank Debra Seiler for making her job much easier in folding the ballots, and thusly making my ballot, and who knows how many other ballots easily ripped and spoiled. I do not think previous ballots were scored in the same fashion to make them fold better (flatter) Would you be interested in me mailing you the ballot, Brad?

Dredd,
I agree. Our next president was "tapped" in a smokey room or at Bilderberg or in a Northern California forest... months or years ago.

The election is only a charade to placate the masses. Hillary was dubbed queen by the Mil./Ind./Oil Complex and they put their money where their mouth is.
She accepted more money from Big Oil than anyone (including republicons!) Its a done deal. Big Oil will retain control of "our" White House.... (Until the world gets fed up with our raping and pillaging of innocents abroad.)

She is bought and paid for.

Hilarrys' NWO/Neo-con connections? NAFTA/CAFTA... her Iraq War promotion was never retracted and she continued funding.... Legalized Loan Sharking.... Bankruptcy Bill.... Big Pharma donations will write Health care policy.... (Kucinich is RIGHT about taking profit out of the healthcare industry) (but the biggest "tell" is the Big Oil endorsement)

The media made Hillary our presidential frontrunner before we had a say in it.

Fred Smart Says:
November 3rd, 2007 at 1:14 pm
We The People need to return to voting and counting using paper ballots in the sunshine - ie. where the ballots never EVER leave the sight We The People. 96-98% of our votes are counted in darkness today using computers and electronic machines that - experts have proven - can be programmed and hacked to achieve a desired result.

I believe We The People should vote on Saturday! In the sunshine! Bring ALL the family and kids and make it into a National celebration of civic activism, transparancy, accountabilty and responsibility!!

How many people, NATIONALLY, voted absentee for Edwards 2 weeks ago? Before he dropped out? Several million?
They are all disenfranchised!!
Exactly ZERO delegates will now vote for edwards...
...But Hey; Who's counting?
Edwards was a thorn in the side... he was HUMILIATING Hillary... of the chosen ones.

Obama won the majority of the Coastline
(Translation: Most densly POPULATED areas)See Map

I wish I had taken a snapshot of the results early this morning... when Edwards had won 13.4% of sacramentos votes. His final tally is now only 6,487 4.4 % suspiciously close to the state final of 166,872 4.3 %
I think he had MORE than 6,487 votes earlier... who deleted VOTES??????

Hi Linda, (1st of all THANK You for you service to our country as a poll worker. Love you!!)
(about comment #18)
I am aware of that....
and its sad, because thats a National problem as well as local/state, but the total number of Edwards votes was rolled back.... he had more than 6487 votes late last nite or early this morning (when he recorded 14.4%).

Do you think only 6487 Sacramentans(?)voted for Edwards as soon as they got their absentee ballots?
Out of the 256,726 who voted (95% returns as of right now)
At 10 PM 14% had reported (as the)
BTW;Statewide Returns
15,712,264 Registered
6,983,935 Voted

I think that many people voted for him because they didnt like Obama or Hillary but wanted to make some small statement. I realize this is speculative, but as Jeannie Dean said above

LINDA!~YES!!! I was just sitting here tearing my hair out wondering the SAME THING! HOW CAN THEY CALL IT in CA with only 14% of precinct reporting?! So glad you posted that/ thought I was going bonky. Jjjjjeeeeeezus.

One hour later I noted the 14% voted for Edwards...
so, maybe 20% of sac's appx 256,726 (=51,345) had reported and 14% (7701.75) of those were for Edwards.

How many people think California voted for:
"1000 years in Iraq" McCain
and
Warmonger Hillary??

I smell rotten fish!

(apologies if my math isnt perfect... I have move on from this discussion for a while... no time to double check math)

Exactly WHEN they counted the absentee ballots could influence the votes for Edwards.

maybe the SoS could make that pertinent FACT visable... as ALL elections should be TRANSPARENT!!!

They should count absentee ballots seperately.... and votes for non-viable candidates cast before said candidate dropped out... should be allowed to vote anew.
Or, are they non-viable citizens? If they cant vote... maybe they should not have to pay taxes??.... No taxation w/o representation!!!